Two sentenced in Norwalk hijack robbery

John Nickerson

Published 6:17 pm, Saturday, March 8, 2014

STAMFORD -- Two men who pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of a Chinese immigrant after he mistakenly stepped off a train in East Norwalk on his way to Westport in June 2013 were sentenced to jail by a Stamford judge on Friday.

Peter Ferraro, 24, of 149 East Rocks Road, Norwalk, was given a 12-year jail sentence to be suspended after he serves seven years in state prison and five years probation.

Andrew Frank, 99 Highview Ave., Stamford, was given a 10-year jail sentence that will be suspended after he serves four years and six months in jail and three years probation.

When they made their guilty pleas to armed robbery in December, Victim Services Advocate Katryn Doud said the victim is desperately looking for his still-missing "green card" from that night.

Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney James Bernardi said the Chinese man has contracted terminal cancer and without the card, friends and family may not be able to visit and say their last goodbyes because there is no other proof the victim is in the country legally. Bernardi said he doubts the card will surface.

The 25-year-old Chinese man, who had trouble understanding English, had taken the 12:15 a.m. train on June 19 from Grand Central to visit his father in Westport, but got off in East Norwalk by mistake. He walked to a nearby gas station on East Avenue to find a taxi.

Instead, he found Ferraro, who was at the gas station with a female friend picking up a pack of cigarettes for her mother. Ferraro offered to drive the Chinese man to the Westport train station for $10. Ferraro initially asked for $10, but later with a knife in his hand demanded more money, the man told police.

Ferraro stopped the car and got out with a passenger -- later identified as Frank. Ferraro ordered the Chinese man out of the car, grabbed his wallet and after seeing he only had $20, ordered him back into the car.

Because he was in a secluded area and did not think he could outrun the men and Ferraro had a knife, the victim complied and got back into the car, the affidavit states. The victim said Ferraro kept asking for the personal identification number for his debit cards, but he did not understand the request. He said Frank, who was sitting in the back seat then hit him in the left cheek.

With the knife still in Ferraro's hand, the man gave him the PIN for the two debit cards in his wallet, he said. One card had $100 withdrawn from it that night, but it was declined at a second bank where Ferraro was pictured trying to withdraw $200, the affidavit states.

Pictures taken by surveillance cameras at the East Avenue gas station established Ferraro's identity right away, the document said. Statements from witnesses as well as surveillance camera images identified Frank as the passenger.